With You, I'm Free
by fbeauchamphartz
Summary: Kurt is a prince, and heir to the High Lands - the ruling body of The Eleven Kingdoms. Forced into an arranged marriage with a prince from another land, Kurt feels trapped in his role as ruler. Kurt might be forced to marry, but his husband will never be his soul mate. That honor goes to Kurt's dragon, Sebastian. Can Sebastian find a way out of this marriage for Kurt?


**A/N:** _Written for the Kurtbastian Hiatus Project prompt 'soul mate AU'. (This is another one-shot I originally didn't like. To tell you the truth, I'm still not sure what I feel about it.)_

Kurt loves to fly.

Of all the amazing places and beautiful lands in his world, being in the sky is his one true passion.

He loves to feel the swirling rush of frigid wind in his hair, collecting and forming ice crystals along the strands.

He delights in the way vapor from the clouds covers his skin and clothes, leaving a thin layer of moisture, chilling him slightly.

He stretches out his arms, closes his eyes, and tilts his head up, seeking to capture the warmth of the sun in its purest measure on his face, holding still beneath its glow to let it freckle his skin. He might never wear the black and blue tattoos that warriors in his kingdom bear on their scarred and battle-weary bodies, but these freckles, these subtle marks, are an honor that only he earns.

Soaring through the air on the back of his dragon Sebastian – known throughout The Eleven Kingdoms as the great emerald-scaled master of the skies, and unfortunately the last of his kind – is the only time that Kurt ever feels free. Up where he can see the stars and touch the heavens, there are no rules to bind him, no responsibilities to tether him, no duties dictating his life…no arranged marriages to seal his fate.

Kurt sighs as the thought of his upcoming nuptials pierces through his momentary happiness. He drops his outstretched arms, opens his eyes, and sees his life for what it really is – a prison.

Kurt Hummel, heir to the throne of the High Lands, the ruling body of The Eleven Kingdoms.

When he was younger, Kurt thought that being a prince would be like living the fairy tales that his mother read to him at night, and it is.

At the end, the prince gets married and locked away in a castle.

Not all fairy tales end with a happily ever after.

Unbeknownst to Kurt, his marriage had been arranged for him when he was thirteen to Hunter Clarington – Prince of the Land Beyond the Jeweled Sea.

Prince of the Land Beyond the Jeweled Sea. Kurt has flown over it. Hunter's title is a flowery way of saying Prince of a Small and Relatively Famine Infected Land That Once Enjoyed a Great and Glorious History of Wealth and Prosperity but is Now Dying a Slow and Painful Death.

Needless to say, their marriage will benefit Hunter much more than it will ever benefit Kurt.

But ancient truces and promises must be upheld. If Kurt's father is anything, he's a man of his word.

Kurt has met his would-be husband on several occasions and can say without a shadow of a doubt that he does not like Hunter. Hunter is as close to a barbarian as civilized humans get. He cares for nothing but power and conquest.

And he despises Kurt's dragon.

Even if Hunter had turned out to be the kindest, most compassionate, most caring person in all the world, for that one reason, Kurt would still loathe him.

Hunter might have been chosen by Kurt's father to be Kurt's husband, and as part of Kurt's vows, he will honor him all the days of his life.

But Sebastian is Kurt's soul mate. No man nor creature on earth will ever take his place in Kurt's heart. Kurt could easily give it up – all of it – and spend his days in the sky with Sebastian forever.

Kurt lays down on Sebastian's back and buries his head in the dragon's hard, armored flesh.

"Oh, Sebastian," Kurt moans into the animal's thick skin, knowing that even over the rush of the wind, Sebastian can hear him. Sebastian has always been able to feel the desires in Kurt's heart, which is how, as a child, Sebastian first came to him.

Kurt was lost, and Sebastian found him.

They had found each other, and been together ever since.

If there is a love greater than theirs, no one has yet found a name for it.

"What am I going to do?" Kurt cries, tears rolling down his cheek and landing on Sebastian's back, heated scales sizzling with each drop that touches his skin. "The wedding is tomorrow, and then I…I can't do this, Sebastian! I just can't!"

Sebastian feels Kurt's pain as if it's his own, and deep inside his chest, his heart clenches.

Sebastian makes a low noise – a growl that is soothing, that Kurt can feel vibrate throughout his whole body. Kurt's sniffles quiet down as he listens to the noises his dragon makes, the images they project in his mind.

_There is a place,_ Sebastian tells him, _where we can go. A place that no man walks. A place where I once lived. A kingdom my kind once commanded. If you don't mind being the prince of nothing, then I will take you there._

"Will you please show it to me?" Kurt asks, and immediately they descend. Sebastian dips below the clouds, gliding down to the level of the ocean, skimming across the crystalline surface of the water, dodging the foamy caps of the swells, letting the spray wash over them. Sebastian flies till they reach a tall rock cliff jetting out from the water and he alights, carefully setting his rider down to take rest in the grass that grows there.

Kurt rushes to the edge with excitement, standing on his tiptoes and peering over the water, but he sees nothing - only water for miles around. He shakes his head sadly, afraid that maybe the land Sebastian once knew had been swallowed by the water years ago and gone forever. It's not until Sebastian touches his mind and lets Kurt use his dragon eyes that the prince sees it. With awe on his face and wonder in the depths of his deep blue eyes, Kurt looks off at the horizon, at the distant lands and archipelagos where his people dare not go. It's a wild land, unexplored, unconquered, and untainted.

Out there where no one knows him, where no one bows to him, where no one forces their beliefs on him – maybe that's truly where his destiny lies.

"I see it, Sebastian," Kurt says with a sigh, leaning against his dragon and placing a gentle kiss on his cheek. "I see it, and it's wonderful."

Sebastian tilts his massive head toward the prince's body and smiles.

He would do anything, give anything, to see Kurt happy – even bestow upon him the fabled Lost Kingdom of the Dragons, the only thing Sebastian has left from his life before humans.

He always swore he'd return there one day.

There was nothing wrong with Sebastian finding a little happiness for himself as well.

Kurt surveys this new land with Sebastian by his side and smiles. Out beyond the sea, where most people believe the world comes to an end, maybe this prince can find his happily ever after.


End file.
